THE treasurer and secretary of one of the country's largest youth football leagues have been warned they face jail for raiding its coffers.

Karen Prictor and Margaret Rivers both admitted plundering tens of thousands of pounds from the North Wilts and District Youth and Minor League.

But the pair could still face a trial of issue as prosecutors say they really siphoned more than three times the amount they admit to taking.

Treasurer Prictor, 46, and secretary Rivers, 54, say they only took about £60,000 between November 2009 and July last year.

But it is alleged the real sum missing from the grassroots league is “something in the region of £200,000”.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, said the bank accounts would have to be looked at again before it was established whether a judge needed to rule on the exact amount.

“There are 3,000 pages of documents. It needs some careful going through so that the Crown can make sure that the figure it nails as its colours to the mast is something it can put through to the court,” she said.

Chris Oswald, for Margaret Rivers, said there had been a number of legitimate loans between the parties over the years.

Rivers won the Grassroots Unsung Hero Award in March 2012 for her work as general secretary, a role which she had held since 2003.

She and Prictor quit earlier this year after the national FA charged them with improper conduct.

It accused them of trying to wrest control away from the management committee and inadequate record-keeping.

As well as admitting fraud, Prictor also pleaded guilty to two accounts of forgery, where she manipulated the books.

She accepted that in the first half of 2013 she falsified bank statements she produced to members of the league. And between November 2009 and July last year she produced auditor’s reports for the end of the financial year which were incorrect.

Both women, and Rivers’ husband Andrew, 57, with whom she lives in Ramleaze Drive, all admitted possessing criminal property in the form of money taken from the league.

Granting bail, Judge Tim Mousley QC told them: “Sentence will be in due course. All sentencing options will be open, that includes immediate custodial sentences.”

The North Wiltshire and District Minor League runs organised football for seven to 18-year-olds, with 360 teams competing across 40 divisions.